Fraudulent schemes with “Zelensky's thousand”: woman lost almost 100 thousand hryvnias

Scammers are adapting to the present and creating phishing links to tempt Ukrainians with “Zelensky's thousand” and appropriate their money.

The woman wanted to get “Zelensky's thousand”, and lost almost 100 thousand hryvnias when she clicked on an unknown link. The police have already opened a criminal case.

Meanwhile, the launch of the program “Winter e-Support” turned out to be very successful. Millions of Ukrainians applied for the payment of a thousand hryvnias “from Zelensky”. However, it was not without scandals. All the details – see the exclusive TSN.ua.

Scam schemes

A resident of Chernivtsi region lost almost 100 thousand hryvnias, becoming a victim of scammers who promised her “a thousand Zelensky”. The National Police reported on the details of the fraudulent scheme and how to avoid being caught.

Scammers are adapting to the present and creating phishing links in order to obtain bank details and confidential information. As soon as a person enters this data on a fake website, the funds disappear from their electronic wallet, which the scammers easily appropriate.

“A 49-year-old resident of Storozhynets suffered from this type of fraud. The applicant told the officers of Department No. 1 (Storozhynets) of the Chernivtsi District Police Department that she saw an announcement in the messenger about the possibility of receiving payments under the “Winter e-Support” program. After clicking on the link, the woman registered, where she indicated confidential information, after which 98,960 hryvnias disappeared from her card,” the police report says.

How not to become a victim of fraudsters

Police investigators entered information about the specified fact of illegal appropriation of Bukovyna funds into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations under Article 190 (fraud) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Police recommend that citizens not follow suspicious links and never enter the following data on unknown sites:

• username and passwords;
• bank account numbers;
• PIN codes (personal identification numbers);
• your date of birth;
• CVV codes.

How to get “Zelensky's thousand”

For information on receiving additional cash payments, please only visit the official pages. Note that “Winter eSupport” can only be issued in banks or in the “Diya” application, or using “Ukrposhta”. 

In Ukraine, the launch of the “Winter eSupport” program turned out to be very successful. Within 24 hours after the launch of the “Winter eSupport” program in “Diya”, more than 2.5 million Ukrainians applied for UAH 1,000. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov. 

According to statistics, more than 551,000 applications were submitted for child support. Among the applicants, 64% are women, and 36% are men. The main age group of applicants is people aged 30 to 40.

He reminded — if someone has not yet submitted an application, they need to update the application and submit it to receive state assistance. The application process is very fast — it takes only a few seconds. The “Diya” platform has withstood high load and is working stably.

Let us recall that the “Winter eSupport” program started on December 1, 2024. This program provides every Ukrainian, including children, with 1,000 UAH to pay for goods and services. The program was initiated by President Volodymyr Zelensky, and has already been nicknamed “Vovina tysyacha” by the people.

It will be possible to receive 1,000 UAH by the end of February 2025.  The amount of support is quite small. 1,000 UAH is unlikely to have a significant impact on the financial situation of most Ukrainians. However, the Ministry of Economy believes that for some people it will be quite significant.

To receive money, you must have a “National Cashback” card. If you do not have one, you will not be able to receive money in any other way. Those who are currently living abroad as refugees will not be able to receive money. The accrual of funds under the “Winter eSupport” program will be carried out only after verification of the applicant's place of residence. Thus, the state will need no more than 15 billion hryvnias for payments.